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Racism In America

Decent Essays

“During the 1990s and 2000s, many big cities actively depopulated themselves of people of color and the poor. […] The dramatic 1972 demolition of the Pruitt-Igoe projects eliminated homes for 15,000. (Chang, 2016)” Jeff Chang’s book We Gon’ Be Alright takes this sentiment that all inequality and inequity ever felt by minority groups comes from White racism, expands it into many different examples. While reading his book, I decided to research for myself if his opinions were just that, or had evidence and facts. What I found was a combination. As much as I would love to say that racism hasn’t existed in this country since 1964, that’s unfortunately not true. And while that is true, the bulk of the evidence pointed away from racism in the …show more content…

In this case, Jeff Chang is not wrong. He writes in detail how Jim Crow laws affected the Black community. He does a good job going into historical accuracy in describing the harmful effects on Black education, and the repercussions of an inequitable society. One where Whites had access to education regardless of class, and Blacks didn’t have access to the same level of education, regardless of class.
Then, in 1964 the Civil Rights Act was passed. The act outlawed discrimination based on race, and while it may not have immediately changed societies feelings overnight, people began to condemn racism in society. The hippie movement was in full swing, and so was the civil rights movement. Combined they began to move each generation to a more progressive standpoint on race. As a whole, America became a place of equity for all. The barriers between White and Black schools and neighborhoods were being theoretically torn down. In practice, White neighborhoods still had a higher cost for homes, and White neighborhoods went to White schools. The problem wasn’t resolved in a day. But the ability to move between classes became possible for Black citizens. Now, everyone had access to a free public education, things should have moved towards equality now that there was equity.
Today, there is still a divide between White and Black neighborhoods and schools. When Chang attempts to answer why this is, he points to

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